So I'm at a sports bar for the AFC Championship game, an hour north of Lucas Oil Stadium, and I look around and see about eight other Pats fans. I also see about thirty or forty Colts fans rooting like heck against our team.

Not a huge surprise, but for some reason it really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe a lot of people on this forum are guilty of putting on their Brady jerseys and cheering for the Jets to lose, but I just can't get into that. I just don't get any pleasure out of rooting AGAINST a team, even a rival. I talked to my boss, and he thinks I'm unreasonable to think that this is not normal.

I think he may be right and I may be the one in the minority here. Thoughts?

to each his own. We'll watch the patriots at the bar and root for our own team, but not purposely try to rile opponent's fans. Some people will harrass u for your jersey. Some of it's in fun spirits....others can be tards. People kept on Tebowing us during the Bronco game....that was funny
Posted by BubbaInHawaii

I won't wear Patriots gear in that type of situation, but would cheer against the Jets, but also give them their due and theur fans when they do something good. I can't get crushed when the Jets win in the playoffs when the Pats are done, but will nominally root for the opponent without too much emotion. If you can do it objectively without screaming in people's faces, you can usually get along with the other guys and not look like an a'hole. If the Jets are playing the Pats, I scam in people's faces and look like an a'hole.

agree...you have to pick your spots. So says a guy who wore his Ty Law jersey to a Pittsburgh Pirates game just a couple months after the Pats 3rd SB title. The fellas and I were taking a road trip and for $4, you could get tickets to a baseball game. It's a beautiful park, it really is. Anyways...after harrassing Nomar who was on the Cubs at the time ("POKEY WOULD HAVE HAD IT!!!!") for a little while, we were walking around. I got so many e ff yous, and whatnot. It was pretty funny...i responded with holding up three fingers for said SB trophys.

But during the game, we were chattin' with some steel worker guys with their young sons about football and whatnot. They were really down to Earth and respectful of the Pats players. Bruschi had just had his stroke and they felt awful. They said they hated playing against Bruschi and the other guys, but loved them as football players. Pretty cool to have a good, honest, and civil conversation with other sports fans from a completely different town. You can learn a lot.

Guilty as charged. I root against The Jets, Steelers, Ravens and Colts. In fact, There is a great feeling of Joy whenever anything bad happens to them. I'm not purposely in anyone's face about it but nevertheless, The Happiness is there.

Guilty as charged. I root against The Jets, Steelers, Ravens and Colts. In fact, There is a great feeling of Joy whenever anything bad happens to them. I'm not purposely in anyone's face about it but nevertheless, The Happiness is there.Posted by Rerun85

indeed you may root against those teams, but at least on this board, u don't come off as being a pric* about it.

...or shameful joy, deriving pleasure from another's misfortune, whatever you want to call it. So I'm at a sports bar for the AFC Championship game, an hour north of Lucas Oil Stadium, and I look around and see about eight other Pats fans. I also see about thirty or forty Colts fans rooting like heck against our team. Not a huge surprise, but for some reason it really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe a lot of people on this forum are guilty of putting on their Brady jerseys and cheering for the Jets to lose, but I just can't get into that. I just don't get any pleasure out of rooting AGAINST a team, even a rival. I talked to my boss, and he thinks I'm unreasonable to think that this is not normal. I think he may be right and I may be the one in the minority here. Thoughts?Posted by IndianaPatsFan

Not every team, but yes, the Jests ALWAYS. I didn't watch the Clots failures, but did enjoy them, and if I'm a Clots fan, I certainly would enjoy Patriot failure. Some teams I just loathe, once the Clots get rid of Manning, they won't be on that list as they won't even come close to resembling the team they used to be. So, the Jests are it for now. Giants are getting close for me. Lot of yapping and Eli love out there.

I won't wear Patriots gear in that type of situation, but would cheer against the Jets, but also give them their due and theur fans when they do something good. I can't get crushed when the Jets win in the playoffs when the Pats are done, but will nominally root for the opponent without too much emotion. If you can do it objectively without screaming in people's faces, you can usually get along with the other guys and not look like an a'hole. If the Jets are playing the Pats, I scam in people's faces and look like an a'hole.Posted by pauldeba

My thoughts exactly. But I do admit to taking a lot of enjoyment from the continued meltdown of the Jets over the last month or so.

There was this young kid at the game the other day sitting near us with a Ravens jersey on. He cheered for his team, but didn't cheer against the Pats; he was being a genuine, good fan - and fair play to the Pats fans around us, even the completely ripped ones, they left the kid and a few other nearby Ravens fans alone.

When that kick went wide, he took it pretty hard. The joy I felt was tempered a little when I saw his face. I told him that it was a tough way to lose the game. He couldn't even speak, he just nodded and looked away.

It was a good reminder for me that while I know some truly obnoxious fans of other teams that I think of with tremendous glee when the Pats or someone else puts a beat-down on their team, there's lots of true fans of every team that don't really deserve joy being derived from their misery.

...or shameful joy, deriving pleasure from another's misfortune, whatever you want to call it. So I'm at a sports bar for the AFC Championship game, an hour north of Lucas Oil Stadium, and I look around and see about eight other Pats fans. I also see about thirty or forty Colts fans rooting like heck against our team. Not a huge surprise, but for some reason it really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe a lot of people on this forum are guilty of putting on their Brady jerseys and cheering for the Jets to lose, but I just can't get into that. I just don't get any pleasure out of rooting AGAINST a team, even a rival. I talked to my boss, and he thinks I'm unreasonable to think that this is not normal. I think he may be right and I may be the one in the minority here. Thoughts?Posted by IndianaPatsFan

Ah, the Jets.

Quite a few years ago the Patriots were playing the Jets on their turf which I think was the old Yale Bowl at the time. I remember Steve Nelson saying that all of the Pats had to wear their Helmets on the sidelines because the Jet Fans were throwing batteries at them from the stands.

What's not to love? :)

And the Chaaaaaagas.

LT doesn't play for them anymore but he and Rivers were a couple of the biggest trash talking players in the league. It was always a pleasure to beat them.

Finally the Colts.

I have a lot of respect for Manning and his abilities as a field general. My dislike for the Colts as a whole was intensified by fans like UD6 who come on this board to bust chops. So sc---rew the Colts.

Someone from another state asked me the other day about how I felt about the Giants and surprisingly, I don't have anywhere near the type of rancor for them as I do the Jets, Chargers and the Colts.

But having said that, the Giants must be taken out to complete the Triple Play of #1- Sweeping the Jets, #2- Beating the Ravens in the playoffs, and finally #3- Beat the Giants in the Super Bowl to shut up the talking heads who refuse to give the Patriots the respect they deserve.

In response to "schaden freude....":
[QUOTE]...or shameful joy, deriving pleasure from another's misfortune, whatever you want to call it. So I'm at a sports bar for the AFC Championship game, an hour north of Lucas Oil Stadium, and I look around and see about eight other Pats fans. I also see about thirty or forty Colts fans rooting like heck against our team. Not a huge surprise, but for some reason it really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe a lot of people on this forum are guilty of putting on their Brady jerseys and cheering for the Jets to lose, but I just can't get into that. I just don't get any pleasure out of rooting AGAINST a team, even a rival. I talked to my boss, and he thinks I'm unreasonable to think that this is not normal. I think he may be right and I may be the one in the minority here. Thoughts?
Posted by
1. If pats are in contention for divison lead or playoff seeding then i root against a team for eg jets if they play denver. But i dont plan to watch those games. I only care abt patriots team. I am not fantasy guy either.
2. If i happen to be at the bar for eg superbowl last year then i pick a team to win and watch that.
3. One is a loser if their life is driven by rooting for other team to lose even though their team is out

...or shameful joy, deriving pleasure from another's misfortune, whatever you want to call it. So I'm at a sports bar for the AFC Championship game, an hour north of Lucas Oil Stadium, and I look around and see about eight other Pats fans. I also see about thirty or forty Colts fans rooting like heck against our team. Not a huge surprise, but for some reason it really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe a lot of people on this forum are guilty of putting on their Brady jerseys and cheering for the Jets to lose, but I just can't get into that. I just don't get any pleasure out of rooting AGAINST a team, even a rival. I talked to my boss, and he thinks I'm unreasonable to think that this is not normal. I think he may be right and I may be the one in the minority here. Thoughts?Posted by IndianaPatsFan

Love this post ! Hanging in Indy with a Pats Jersey on. Have a lot of fun with it, Man. Sure wish I could be you for the day. lol

I've mentioned all my personal opinions on this board for about 2 years now. The Schaudenfreude thing creeps me out a bit. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like certain people or things and enjoy seeing them disappointed or be losers, but some people seriously live their life with this stuff. They watch people in Hollywood struggle with addiction, etc, and scan TMZ, watch Springer, etc. I don't get it, but whatever. I think it's a reflection back on how jealous and miserable a lot of people are. It used to be that people would appreciate greatness, class, consistency, good people and effort/dilligence, etc, but now it's resented. I hate the Yankees, for example, but it has nothing more to do with rivalry hate. They hate us, we hate them That's just how it works. But, I respect their successes and tradition. They won more than the Sox, but so what? I know the Sox have some incredible tradition and have WS titles, etc. Other than disliking NYers/NJites and their lame arrogance, it doesn't go much further than that. Finally, the media and the anti-BB bias as a tool also perpetuates the anti-NE thing. The reason why there is such a hate is mainly because many felt SB 42 was the end, too. They got off on the media framed Spygate witch hunt, the SB 42 loss, Brady blowing his leg out and the media bashing BB the last 2 years, they believed it was over. LMAO Many are morons and don't get it, so now a resurgence, a SB appearance, two 1st rd draft picks in 2012, etc, just sit back and enjoy at this point. I just smile. I don't even wear Pats gear out in public to avoid the awkward Schaudenfreude attacks. I've lived out of the area for over 10 years now, and still come back to NE, etc, but I am telling you, if you haven't lived out of the area during this you have no idea how bad it is. The cap thing drives people insane. With the Yankees, the hate can easily be tied to the open check book. NE doesn't have this. It's just the opposite, which is what drives fans even more nutty. Week 17, I watched the Bills/Pats game out at a bar with friends, just because I wasn't on edge with a meaningless game, and the annoying Steelers fans (sorry SteelCurtain), were loud as all hell, cheerinng for every Buffalo play. I get it, but at some point, it's really unhealthy on their part. Like, REALLY unhealthy. Get over it. NE is very, very good and they ain't going anywhere. I said the same thing 4 years ago. Ironic the media perpetuates this and they ignored BB's ingenius on the fly rebuild that took 2 years, but was well worth it. GENIUSPosted by RidingWithTheKingII

I've been out of the area for 13 years now. Being down south, all I have to do is talk and the natives know "I'm not from around these here parts". LOL

I wear my Red Sox hat in the Summer and have a Red Sox Licsense Plate Holder on my Motorcycle. My NC friends have no real MLB Team to root for and I don't really see a lot of Panther devotion around here. If Cam Newton continues to develop that might change.

Best of all is that I have a Flying Elvis on my Front Licsense Plate on my Pickup Truck. In some areas down here, people might just think I'm being patriotic. :)

My favorite teams are #1. Pats and #2 whoever is playing the Jests......Watch Belichick on Football life...After the 59-0 victory over Tennesee, as leaving his office he says "to top it off the Jets lost"

Shameful Joy. Not really I just try not to be remarkably arrogant and obnoxious when the Sox, Celtics or Pats win. As for the jersey wearing aspect; I don't think it's necessary for you to be considered a fan and it might be unwise to wear team colours in the wrong situation (Sox hat in Bronx after a Yankees playoff loss might not be the best idea.

There are also organzations I respect: Yanks, Steelers, Giants, 49ers, Sixers, Lakers etc....I can still despise their players and managers, however, I seldom show disrespect for teams that win consistantly. I might hate the guy that beat me with belt high change-up in little league, but he won so I tip my cap and move on.

What bothered me about this incarnation of the Colts is that I had respect for them in the past even though i don't like Peyton or Napolian. I seriously feel that they deliberately tanked the season and that galls me. Belichick lost Brady and had one of the best coached seasons of his career. It just seemed like, with Saturday putting balls on the ground and pro-bowl players making egregious mistakes, that the Colts tanked for Luck. Irsay then took an hachett to the management and coaching staff. The final joke could be on them if, in fact, this team needs to be rebuilt; they will need more than Andrew Luck to become competitive......there may be some shameful joy on my part in that.